[Linux-Anyway] Re: Ethics
- From: Horror Vacui <horrorvacui@xxxxxxx>
- To: Linux-Anyway@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 21:02:09 +0200
Godwin Stewart wrote:
>From: "Horror Vacui" <horrorvacui@xxxxxxx>
>Subject: [Linux-Anyway] Re: Ethics
>
>
>
>>Children are no different than other humans. Child abuse is exactly as
>>repulsive as rape, and should be handled in a similar manner. Violence
>>is repulsive, and it hardly matters whether the victims are children or
>>adults.
>>
>>
>
>Just one question: do you have children of your own?
>
Of course not, you guessed right.
>
>My opinion is that child abuse is more repulsive than abuse of adults,
>because a child cannot answer and/or fight back. Adults who prey on kids
>usually use their position of authority (eg. teacher, cop, parent, priest)
>to coerce their prey into whatever sick games they had in mind. If the child
>hasn't already been lured into such a trap then (s)he can't know what the
>abuser has in mind.
>
You're right with that, but that doesn't mean that we have to have
different categories of "crimes against children" and "normal crime"
with draconian punishment for the former and less so for the latter. The
helplessness of the victim, as far I know, is always taken into account
by courts. Child abuse for example, is covered by the laws against rape
that in the most countries are defined as having sexual intercourse
without the consent of the other, and since children are incapable of
(legally valid) consent - child abuse is rape. Nobody would judge such a
case the same way as the rape of an adult.
If you have a draconian legislation (say, 10 years minimum, optionally
cojones off) for crimes agains children, you might be unjust. The
requests for such legislation apparently base on the wrong notion that
children are asexual, and that their involvement in anything sexual
causes them damage and thus is a crime. Children explore their
sexuality, and since humans are social animals, they do it with others,
mostly by "playing doctors" with other children. But if they choose to
do so with some adult, and if the adult is foolish enough to use that
for his purposes, he'll go to prison for 10 years or have cojones cut
off, only because he didn't take his responsibility as he should have -
even if the harm done is minimal. You need to protect children from
abuse, and you do that by examining every case with care, weighing the
punishment against the harm - not by convicting to years of prison every
poor sod that thought he could get away with playing doctors with little
girls.
Most of child abuse cases are much worse, of course. But special laws
for child abuse make little sense, especially if you expect them to be
especially draconian. You might say that I'd be thinking differently if
I had children or if they happened to be victims - and you're quite
right, I imagine that in affect I'd be capable of anything - even
killing. But that would be revenge, and not justice. Laws are there to
bring justice, and they should be devised to do so - and not as medium
for individuals to take revenge or soothe fears.
Cheers
Horror Vacui
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